What I am doing wrong?? I am trying to get the first 'joining' stitches as tight as I can and it's still not tight enough. I'm left with an obvious gap. Is there a trick I don't know about? or is this something I am just going to have to get used to because it still feels reeeeeeeaally awkward. :?? I have watched Amy's video and I think I am doing it as she has shown.

rebecca

04-13-2005, 08:21 PM

Practice, practice, practice!! I had the exact problem when I started with dpns! try giving the 2nd st on the needle and extra tug and that should help tighten the 1st one as well. Very important, tho...try to maintain the same tension even when going from one dpn to the next.
The crucial thing is ..... practice :XX: ... :frog: ....Practice more :X: and practice and I promise it will all come together!! :thumbsup:

KellyK

04-13-2005, 08:32 PM

I agree!

knitqueen

04-14-2005, 01:11 AM

:frog: :frog: This is what I was doing tonight. :wall: :wall:

I tried to start my sock FOUR times. I just cannot get it. I can't find an comfortable way to hold the needles and I can't make those join stitches tight enough. The results looks awful. Grrrrrrrr....

twiggyann

04-14-2005, 03:07 AM

Keep knitting. My join at first looks bad but as I knit it starts to look better. And I promise you, using DPNs starts out like trying to knit while fighting a porcupine in heat, but it does get better.

My first pair of socks was with worsted weight yarn. I'm doing my second pair now, but using sock yarn. The porcupine nearly won the fight, but it's better now.

yellowness

04-14-2005, 03:17 AM

One technique that I've found that works well for me is to swap the first and last cast on stitch before knitting.... Essentially joining the round before knitting a stitch. Still can be a little funky, but WAY less funky for me than trying to "knit into a round".

knitqueen

04-14-2005, 09:48 AM

Let me see if I know what you mean....you start off with your working yarn on the needle to your right and your first cast on stitch on the needle to your left. You move the first cast on stitch to the right needle, then pass the stitch with the working yarn over and onto the left needle????? :??

yellowness

04-14-2005, 12:03 PM

Uh, I think that's what I was saying :)

I use a slip knot to start my cast on... so basically, check my needles to make sure nothing's twisted, get them arranged in the square or triangle that I'll be using (I prefer a square, but that's just me), and swap the stitches. I put the feed yarn on the left before hand, transfer the slip knot to the left needle, and then use the loosening of the last cast on stitch to make it big enough to gently transfer that over the slip knot and onto the right needle. A little snugging of the yarn is then in order.

Your needles should have just as many stitches on them as when you started, with the needles locked into the shape of your desire, the feed yarn now coming out of the right hand side, and the slip knot being your first stitch to knit with the working (free) needle.

I hope that's a better explanation. I wrote the first one after hours of writing a scientific paper for school and realized my brain was probably not up the task of explanation any more :)

oshnpashn

04-14-2005, 01:05 PM

Hmmmm, was last night DPN and sock night? Yes ms yellowness. I just discovered that trick last night and it worked beautifully, although I did end up frogging about 5 rows. Wanted to try the socks on two circs. Had to frog that too!!!

Lots of practice knitqueen...keep going and you'll get it. On the flip side, I was having problems with the joins on the two circs. Go figure.

:XX:

eggplant

04-14-2005, 01:11 PM

An "after the fact" way to compensate for that first join being loose (if you've already gotten too far to turn back now) would be to wait till your project is done, then weave in your yarn tail in a way that snugs up that first join and makes it stronger.

The nice thing about knitting with DPNs is that the knitting actually gets easier after those first few rounds of "porcupine wrestling."

knitqueen

04-14-2005, 04:43 PM

I think it's getting better. I'm on about try 7 of starting this darn sock (no pun intended.....hehe.... :lol: ). It definitely does get easier after the first few rounds. I'm about 1/2" into the ribbing and I think I've figured out a convenient way to hold the needles, but those joining stitches, while a lot better than at first, still take me some extra concentration and they're still not quite right, but hey, this is my experiment sock. It also seems that when I have my stitches all squished together on the needles, the joining corners seem looser than the rest, but when all the stitches are spread out as they will be once it's done, the joins don't look so bad. Not that anyone stares at my ankles anyways!!! ;)

Yellowness, I tried your suggestion for the initial join and it really made it a lot easier. Thanks! :cheering: